The City of Detroit has long been viewed as one of our nations most aged and most decayed urban cities. The American press has had a field day with Detroit whenever an opportunity arose to publicize statistics that turned a negative eye toward Motown. Insiders know differently.

They realize that Detroit is a vibrant multi-ethnic community that has had its buildings and businesses decimated by globalization and suburban sprawl; but Detroiters also know the rest of the story. Detroit is very much on the comeback trail!

When Michael Ilitch, founder and Chairman of Little Caesars Pizza, purchased the Detroit Tigers baseball team, he had a vision of breathing life back into the city by building the nation’s most beautiful and entertaining stadium. He knew that the aging Tiger Stadium, built over a period of many decades beginning in the 1920’s was ultimately unsound and eventually unsafe to hold too many more years of ball games. He then set out on a quest to find land and obtain zoning and permissions to build a new park.

That is when the loyal and perhaps overzealous baseball fans began to rally around the old stadium. At one point, they actually held hands in a circle around the old stadium in an effort to force the renovation and preserve the history of the old structure. For many reasons; structural, parking requirements, safety and lack of interior amenity opportunities, the new park ultimately needed to be built.

And so it was that planning began in the late 1990s. The opening of the Baltimore Orioles’ stadium, Camden Yards, in 1992 had set the model for an urban baseball stadium. The team of designers working on Comerica Park knew that this field needed to fit into a "turn of the 19th century" architectural surround and Camden Yards had already set a good example. HOK Sport in Kansas City became the overall designers of the park, which opened in April of 2000. Heading the design for the Ilitch organization was John Buffone. He reviewed everything from the actual layout of home plate to the plates used in the restaurants.

The architects developed a plan to use an exoskeletal steel framework in a decorative "Eiffelesque" manner. The park is situated in the heart of Detroit’s new Entertainment District and its main entry faces the magnificently restored 5000-seat Fox Theatre. Adjacent to the south side edge of the park are the newly restored Opera House and much-venerated Detroit Athletic Club; both carved limestone historic landmarks in Detroit. Also bracketing the stadium are two magnificent churches that date back before the turn of the 20th century. The new structure of the ballpark fit wonderfully into its surroundings. But Ilitch had a different view. He needed more!

Turning to one of America’s premier design houses, Ilitch retained the services of David Rockwell of Rockwell Design Group in New York City. Rockwell was charged with adding artistic and entertaining architectural designs that were emblematic of historical Detroit architecture, as well as creating a high level of street appeal.

Illuminating Concepts, a Farmington Hills based Lighting and Media Design Company was commissioned to create an inviting lighting design for Comerica Park. Fortunately, the design firm had deep roots in the community and was aware of the social, political and economic climate of Downtown Detroit. Many of the designers on the staff of Illuminating Concepts are historic lighting experts and took their commission to the highest level of research

and development.

Appreciating History

The first goal of the lighting team was to research the use of street lighting in Detroit. Taking cues from the architecture and location, as well as heeding the wishes of the fans that wanted to preserve the old park, the team set out to provide an historic setting for visitors to experience upon driving up to the park. Keith Irtenkauf (Studio Director) and Kenneth Klemmer (Design Director) immersed themselves into historic books and old photo libraries, gathering evidence of early street lighting poles and luminaires.

The first lighting to replace natural gas lights in Detroit was carbon arc. This form of lighting was probably the first recognized form of illumination utilizing electric energy dating back to the late 1880’s. An extraordinarily powerful blue-green tinted light source, carbon arc lighting was first used atop very high steel towers that were typically located at the intersections of major roads. Since many downtown parks were located near these crossroads, the carbon arc source, mounted high in the air, served the purpose of illuminating the parks as well. Once these light sources were installed, the parks began to be used at night as well; an unanticipated boon. More lighting at night also meant that store owners extended their night hours and restaurants that once only catered to the lunch crowd, began to serve dinner. The lighting team found such carbon arc sources in their historic photographic research. Then, in a photo from 1890, a lower pole was seen in one picture. It certainly must have still utilized a carbon arc source, but by 1895 these sources had become more refined to include auto-adjustment features which kept the electrodes focused at one another with a greater ability to burn at lower arc distances and thus less bright.

Once this pole and head had been identified, the team set out on a journey across the vast area of Greater Downtown Detroit. Not more than a mile from the new stadium site, they noticed several poles quite similar to the photograph. First noticing the peeling white paint and then with a gentle rap of the knuckles, they realized that the pole was almost entirely made from wood. The team had found the original 1895 pole! Traditional "climber" spikes were still embedded in the wooden pole shaft for servicing the light source. At the top of the pole was a cast iron "crane". The crane is the fitting that caps off the pole and decoratively holds the luminaire from the top. This crane was unique, however, as it did not attach to the acorn shaped luminaire at one point. Instead, the crane attached at two points several inches apart. Aha!, the team chimed, this lighting fixture was originally high voltage carbon arc! The determination for this was the necessity to separate the electrical wires as they entered the proximity of the arc "electrodes". Although it is possible that the discovered pole had received only one lamp source "transplant" to Mercury Vapor, it is likely that it had been retrofitted several times over the 105 years of operation.

The spikes on the wooden pole shaft were originally used to adjust and change the electrodes. Hydraulic lift trucks had not yet been invented and workers would take their tools and parts on the electric streetcars to walk, like mailmen, down the city streets to repair and adjust the carbon arc sources.

The Baltimore Orioles stadium, Camden Yards, built in 1992 served as inspiration for how to build an urban baseball stadium. The park is situated in the heart of Detroit's Entertainment District that features the renovated Fox Theatre and a restored Opera House. As a result of the opening of Comerican Park, businesses in Downtown Detroit stayed open later, and restaurants in the area that previously catered to the lunch crowd now stayed open late to accommodate the thousands of baseball fans flocking to the area.

The resulting effort was a complete re-casting of the original City of Detroit street light and the development of a new optical system. Holophane Lighting was chosen as the manufacturer of the new pole and luminaire. During the mock-up and testing of the prototype, the height and scale of the new castings were considered. Mock-ups of various heights were held in the testing area of Illuminating Concepts, with the goal of finding the perfect solution of pedestrian scale poles and a mounting height that accomplished street lighting as well. The net result was that a mounting height of 22 feet was chosen and a lamp source and optical system that used a 400-watt, high color rendering Metal Halide lamp source.

In order to keep the landscape areas clear of ground mounted flood lighting, the team set out to design a pole that would also be strong enough to multi-task as a structural support for flood lights, a support for graphics and holiday ornaments and a tie-off for lateral festival lighting. For quick mounting, a special floodlight assembly was made that simply slipped on to the pole. Tie offs were internally braced and a custom bracket arm was designed to carry banner stretchers. By integrating all of these multi-tasking components within the structure of the re-created pole, exposed fittings, temporary attachments and scraped paint finishes were avoided.

The area adjacent Comerica Park was indeed confined. Surface parking, broad sidewalks and vehicular access made it virtually impossible to design substantial and significant green space. The turn of the century lighting poles and luminaries were needed to provide a sense of history and tranquility around the park. Similarly, a 2,000 car parking structure was architecturally integrated into the north facing side of the park, which was fitted with wall bracket style luminaries of identical size and design of the pole mounted luminares.

Lighting Hits a Home Run

When a home run is hit by the Tigers, a strobe system sequence that rings the stadium is set off to entertain the crowd and "Liquid Fireworks" that shoot nearly 200 feet in the air, are illuminated and choreographed to different musical selections that turn round-trippers into an entire entertainment package

Rockwell’s design team recognized the need to make a "statement" with the façade of the building. The lack of landscaping possibilities required that the building be more decorative and friendlier. Detroit’s Craftsman Era history is well known by great designers like the Rockwell group. Turning to Pewabic Tile, the oldest ceramic tile company in America (still located in their original home not more than two miles from the Stadium), the Rockwell team fashioned amazing ceramic and brick designs for the stadium facades and columns. Adding to the entertaining nature of Rockwell’s design was the creation of large Tigers mounted to the tops of columns that surrounded the building. In each tiger jaw is a luminous baseball.

Even though Comerica Park’s playing field is substantially recessed below grade, the upper deck rises significantly into the skyline. The under side of the deck is visible from at least a mile away. The designers studied a method of "warming" the look of the park in the evening, so it would not appear to loom over pedestrians and motorists. The first 20 feet of the façade was illuminated by the re-cast historical streetlights. The details created by David Rockwell were illuminated with the pole-mounted floodlights. The upper deck, however, was a greater challenge.

The design team presented an idea to Ilitch that would "animate" the park’s upper deck with changing color. Further, the park could "come alive" when a home run was hit by means of a digital control touch screen in the control booth. The idea of a "home run" was in instant success. So much so that it lead to a number of other "features" and events that occur inside the stadium.

The most significant feature to arise from this "entertainment strategy" was the design and installation of an enormous center field water feature. The final design of this water feature was a combined effort between Waltzing Waters and the design team. Over 160 feet long and shooting artistic arrays of water patterns almost 200 feet in the air, the feature is also choreographed to many different sound tracks. As if this were not enough, the water is also illuminated and choreographed in a rainbow of colors.

Adding to the drama of the water feature named "Liquid Fireworks". the design team developed an all-encompassing strobe sequence that surrounds the fans wherever they are in the park. Mounted to the upper deck roof, 120 strobes ring the stadium, creating a stunning set of chases that entertain the crowd. The idea for the strobes came from television coverage of the exciting 1999 home run race, when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were surrounded by photoflashes with every swing.

All intelligent exterior lighting, the huge center field water feature, the strobe sequences and several other amenities inside the park are all under a computerized central control system. This system contains a library of songs that the water feature performs to, all of the commands that the lighting system performs to and all of the controls required to run the water feature. The lighting designers own software system - MediamorFX, integrates all of these features into one touch screen menu system for the control booth operators to use. When a home run is hit, a variety of song tracks can be played that trigger all of the other features to perform. Any of the features can also perform individually.

Taken as a whole, the Comerica Park project accomplished its goals. A number of restaurants are open year round; baseball fans come early to the games to have lunch or dinner and many stay after the last out to watch a water show or dine at one of the themed restaurants. The park has become an inviting and entertaining place to be. The architecture, lighting and media designs have contributed significantly to the success of the park. It is seen by all as a friendly and inviting place to visit. The community has embraced Detroit’s new "old ballpark" as if it were indeed 100 years old.

Ron Harwood is the Principal & Creative Director for Illuminating Concepts